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Ben Lawson

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Dr. Lawson is a sensory psychologist specializing in spatial orientation. He has completed projects on spatial disorientation, self-motion/orientation, motion maladaptation, postural equilibrium, vestibular function, cognitive performance, simulated/virtual environments, human factors, & pharmacological countermeasures.

Ben has served as an Adjunct Prof. of Psychology, Aeronautical Human Factors, & Military Medicine. He has served on Editorial & Advisory Boards for books, symposia, & journals.
Supervisors: Dissertation advisor: James Lackner, Ph.D., Director, Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory, Brandeis University, Formal mentors: Fred Guedry, Ph.D., Angus Rupert, Ph.D., and Informal mentor: Robert S. Kennedy, Ph.D.

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Papers by Ben Lawson

Functional Screening for Vestibular and Balance Problems Soon After head Injury: Options in Development for the Field or Aid Station

Journal of Special Operations Medicine

Identification of military occupations most likely to suffer Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and related sensory injuries

Tactile Situation Awareness System

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2016

Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System ... more Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS). TSAS is a garment containing vibrotactile stimulators that provide aircraft flight control feedback to the torso. TSAS is intended to improve human factors during flight by reducing workload, increasing situation awareness, and reducing the likelihood of brownout mishaps. During simulation and flight tests, pilots using TSAS have demonstrated the ability to non-visually hover helicopters, while consistently reporting reduced workload and increased situation awareness. The current effort enlarged the surface area of the garment to extend the capability beyond hovering to include complete forward flight control (pitch and roll) so that the technology could be transitioned to the helicopter pilot community and effect a reduction of brownout mishaps. The following describes the delivery of this new suite of capabilities, including the cueing garments, avionics interfaces, and softwar...

Recent Advances in Tactile Cueing

Near-Future Technological Countermeasures for Spatial Disorientation in Flight

Requirements for Developing the Model of Spatial Orientation into an Applied Cockpit Warning System

Tactile Cueing Strategies to Convey Aircraft Motion or Warn of Collision

Audiotactile Aids for Improving Pilot Situation Awareness

Human Factors as both the Embodiment of and Potential Solution to a Broken System of Science

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2014

ABSTRACT The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of sci... more ABSTRACT The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of science, with a specific focus on how we train students to operate within a system that often slows scientific innovation. Chris Brill provided opening remarks to frame the discussion and introduce the panelists. Ben Lawson briefly summarized the most significant problems affecting modern science and how they limit discovery, stifle innovation, and reduce quality. The remaining panelists then provided brief opening remarks in response to Lawson’s summary. Specifically, Frank Durso addressed how the current research and funding environments affects student training and career advice. Peter Hancock addressed how risk-averse sponsors and business models prohibit innovative research. Scott Shappell discussed how different Human Factors and Ergonomics (heretofore referenced as HF/E) career paths lead people to and from their roles as scientists. Specifically, he discussed how to prepare students for flexibility in the changing landscape of the business of science. The panel then turned to facilitated discussion with panelists and audience members. Specific themes included the business of science in relation to educational practices, the applied nature of HF/E training within the scientist/practitioner model, and implications of short-term funding schedules on education and research practices. The panel concluded by discussing how HF/E scientists/practitioners may be uniquely qualified to offer potential solutions to the above problems from educational and systemic perspectives.

The Efficacy of Dextroamphetamine as a Motion Sickness Countermeasure for the Use in Military Operational Environments

A Comparison of Intranasal and Oral Scopolamine for Motion Sickness Prevention in Military Personnel

Evaluation of Several Common Antimotion Sickness Medications and Recommendations Concerning Their Potential Usefulness During Special Operations

Initial Consideration of the Feasibility and Optimal Application of Tactile Sway Cueing to Improve Balance Among Persons Suffering from Disequilibrium

Conveying Looming with a Localized Tactile Cue

Coalition Warfare Program Tactile Situation Awareness System for Aviation Applications: Simulator Flight Test

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Dynamic Simulated Shooting Performance

Invited Lectures from a Spatial Orientation Symposium in Honor of Frederick Guedry, Day 2

Effects of Rifle Handling, Target Acquisition, and Trigger Control on Simulated Shooting Performance

Military Occupations Most Affected by Head/Sensory Injuries and the Potential Job Impact of Those Injuries

Military medicine, 2016

Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory ... more Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory systems. We explored the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify occupations with the highest incidence of injured personnel, then ranked how frequently they occurred in a top 10 list for each of four injury categories (head/brain, visual, auditory, vestibular) encompassing 25 injury codes. Across all four categories, the most affected occupations were identified, among which we chose three Army combat-related military occupational specialties (MOSs) for detailed study. We identified skills needed to perform these MOSs and explored whether MOS-critical deficits could be expected following the injuries. Some DoD occupations are more likely to suffer from these injuries, including Infantry, Combat Operations Control, Artillery/Gunnery, Motor Vehicle Operator, Combat Engineering, and Armor/Amphibious. Within these DoD occupations, we explored three Army combatant MOSs: Infantry (1...

The Neurovestibular Challenges of Astronauts and Balance Patients: Some Past Countermeasures and Two Alternative Approaches to Elicitation, Assessment and Mitigation

Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2016

Astronauts and vestibular patients face analogous challenges to orientation function due to adapt... more Astronauts and vestibular patients face analogous challenges to orientation function due to adaptive exogenous (weightlessness-induced) or endogenous (pathology-induced) alterations in the processing of acceleration stimuli. Given some neurovestibular similarities between these challenges, both affected groups may benefit from shared research approaches and adaptation measurement/improvement strategies. This article reviews various past strategies and introduces two plausible ground-based approaches, the first of which is a method for eliciting and assessing vestibular adaptation-induced imbalance. Second, we review a strategy for mitigating imbalance associated with vestibular pathology and fostering readaptation. In discussing the first strategy (for imbalance assessment), we review a pilot study wherein imbalance was elicited (among healthy subjects) via an adaptive challenge that caused a temporary/reversible disruption. The surrogate vestibular deficit was caused by a brief per...

Functional Screening for Vestibular and Balance Problems Soon After head Injury: Options in Development for the Field or Aid Station

Journal of Special Operations Medicine

Identification of military occupations most likely to suffer Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and related sensory injuries

Tactile Situation Awareness System

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2016

Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System ... more Recent system development efforts have been made concerning a Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS). TSAS is a garment containing vibrotactile stimulators that provide aircraft flight control feedback to the torso. TSAS is intended to improve human factors during flight by reducing workload, increasing situation awareness, and reducing the likelihood of brownout mishaps. During simulation and flight tests, pilots using TSAS have demonstrated the ability to non-visually hover helicopters, while consistently reporting reduced workload and increased situation awareness. The current effort enlarged the surface area of the garment to extend the capability beyond hovering to include complete forward flight control (pitch and roll) so that the technology could be transitioned to the helicopter pilot community and effect a reduction of brownout mishaps. The following describes the delivery of this new suite of capabilities, including the cueing garments, avionics interfaces, and softwar...

Recent Advances in Tactile Cueing

Near-Future Technological Countermeasures for Spatial Disorientation in Flight

Requirements for Developing the Model of Spatial Orientation into an Applied Cockpit Warning System

Tactile Cueing Strategies to Convey Aircraft Motion or Warn of Collision

Audiotactile Aids for Improving Pilot Situation Awareness

Human Factors as both the Embodiment of and Potential Solution to a Broken System of Science

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2014

ABSTRACT The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of sci... more ABSTRACT The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of science, with a specific focus on how we train students to operate within a system that often slows scientific innovation. Chris Brill provided opening remarks to frame the discussion and introduce the panelists. Ben Lawson briefly summarized the most significant problems affecting modern science and how they limit discovery, stifle innovation, and reduce quality. The remaining panelists then provided brief opening remarks in response to Lawson’s summary. Specifically, Frank Durso addressed how the current research and funding environments affects student training and career advice. Peter Hancock addressed how risk-averse sponsors and business models prohibit innovative research. Scott Shappell discussed how different Human Factors and Ergonomics (heretofore referenced as HF/E) career paths lead people to and from their roles as scientists. Specifically, he discussed how to prepare students for flexibility in the changing landscape of the business of science. The panel then turned to facilitated discussion with panelists and audience members. Specific themes included the business of science in relation to educational practices, the applied nature of HF/E training within the scientist/practitioner model, and implications of short-term funding schedules on education and research practices. The panel concluded by discussing how HF/E scientists/practitioners may be uniquely qualified to offer potential solutions to the above problems from educational and systemic perspectives.

The Efficacy of Dextroamphetamine as a Motion Sickness Countermeasure for the Use in Military Operational Environments

A Comparison of Intranasal and Oral Scopolamine for Motion Sickness Prevention in Military Personnel

Evaluation of Several Common Antimotion Sickness Medications and Recommendations Concerning Their Potential Usefulness During Special Operations

Initial Consideration of the Feasibility and Optimal Application of Tactile Sway Cueing to Improve Balance Among Persons Suffering from Disequilibrium

Conveying Looming with a Localized Tactile Cue

Coalition Warfare Program Tactile Situation Awareness System for Aviation Applications: Simulator Flight Test

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Dynamic Simulated Shooting Performance

Invited Lectures from a Spatial Orientation Symposium in Honor of Frederick Guedry, Day 2

Effects of Rifle Handling, Target Acquisition, and Trigger Control on Simulated Shooting Performance

Military Occupations Most Affected by Head/Sensory Injuries and the Potential Job Impact of Those Injuries

Military medicine, 2016

Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory ... more Identifying Department of Defense (DoD) occupations affected by injuries to the head and sensory systems. We explored the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database to identify occupations with the highest incidence of injured personnel, then ranked how frequently they occurred in a top 10 list for each of four injury categories (head/brain, visual, auditory, vestibular) encompassing 25 injury codes. Across all four categories, the most affected occupations were identified, among which we chose three Army combat-related military occupational specialties (MOSs) for detailed study. We identified skills needed to perform these MOSs and explored whether MOS-critical deficits could be expected following the injuries. Some DoD occupations are more likely to suffer from these injuries, including Infantry, Combat Operations Control, Artillery/Gunnery, Motor Vehicle Operator, Combat Engineering, and Armor/Amphibious. Within these DoD occupations, we explored three Army combatant MOSs: Infantry (1...

The Neurovestibular Challenges of Astronauts and Balance Patients: Some Past Countermeasures and Two Alternative Approaches to Elicitation, Assessment and Mitigation

Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2016

Astronauts and vestibular patients face analogous challenges to orientation function due to adapt... more Astronauts and vestibular patients face analogous challenges to orientation function due to adaptive exogenous (weightlessness-induced) or endogenous (pathology-induced) alterations in the processing of acceleration stimuli. Given some neurovestibular similarities between these challenges, both affected groups may benefit from shared research approaches and adaptation measurement/improvement strategies. This article reviews various past strategies and introduces two plausible ground-based approaches, the first of which is a method for eliciting and assessing vestibular adaptation-induced imbalance. Second, we review a strategy for mitigating imbalance associated with vestibular pathology and fostering readaptation. In discussing the first strategy (for imbalance assessment), we review a pilot study wherein imbalance was elicited (among healthy subjects) via an adaptive challenge that caused a temporary/reversible disruption. The surrogate vestibular deficit was caused by a brief per...

Efficacy of Directional Tactile Cues for Target Orientation in Helicopter Extractions over Moving Targets

Military and civilian helicopters have been extracting downed and injured personnel for decades. ... more Military and civilian helicopters have been extracting downed and injured personnel for decades. Stabilizing the aircraft in a hover position in areas of limited contrast is a difficult task made more complex when over water due to the motion of the waves and the drift of the rescue target. This study assessed the efficacy of a tactile system providing directional cues in a simulated extraction task under varied conditions (e.g., degraded visual environment, fatigue). The results support the use of cues delivered by a tactile system. Results also indicated that participants were in fact fatigued (evidenced by mood and vigilance data) but performance was unaffected by this condition. The data patterns indicate that participants developed a strategy for using the cues (in some cases with minimal training), which influenced how well they performed.

Human Factors as both the Embodiment of and Potential Solution to a Broken System of Science

by Ben Lawson and Scott Shappell

The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of science, wit... more The objective of this panel was to discuss issues critical to the modern practice of science, with a specific focus on how we train students to operate within a system that often slows scientific innovation. Chris Brill provided opening remarks to frame the discussion and introduce the panelists. Ben Lawson briefly summarized the most significant problems affecting modern science and how they limit discovery, stifle innovation, and reduce quality. The remaining panelists then provided brief opening remarks in response to Lawson's summary. Specifically, Frank Durso addressed how the current research and funding environments affects student training and career advice. Peter Hancock addressed how risk-averse sponsors and business models prohibit innovative research. Scott Shappell discussed how different Human Factors and Ergonomics (heretofore referenced as HF/E) career paths lead people to and from their roles as scientists. Specifically, he discussed how to prepare students for flexibility in the changing landscape of the business of science. The panel then turned to facilitated discussion with panelists and audience members. Specific themes included the business of science in relation to educational practices, the applied nature of HF/E training within the scientist/practitioner model, and implications of short-term funding schedules on education and research practices. The panel concluded by discussing how HF/E scientists/practitioners may be uniquely qualified to offer potential solutions to the above problems from educational and systemic perspectives.

Human Factors to Consider During the Early Development and Dissemination of New Displays to Improve Spatial Orientation and Situation Awareness

When a new technology is contemplated to enhance situation awareness (SA), thought must be given ... more When a new technology is contemplated to enhance situation awareness (SA), thought must be given to designing, prototyping, and demonstrating it to enhance usability and acceptance. The focus during this process is typically upon the end-user. We introduce three SA-enhancing displays (designed to avoid spatial disorientation (SD), falling, and collisions, respectively) and describe the typical end-users of such displays. We then argue for a wider consideration of human factors (HF) that includes the needs of those in the entire human chain of technology development before the final end-users. We intend to show how solving problems associated with the early development and refinement of new technologies requires a consideration of multiple types of " users. " Consideration of only the end-user is not sufficient to ensure technology acceptance in any of the three case studies described in this report. Everyone in the chain of technology development must be considered a user.

AUDIOTACTILE AIDS FOR IMPROVING PILOT SITUATION AWARENESS

Up to one-third of all aircraft mishaps are attributable to spatial disorientation (SD), costing ... more Up to one-third of all aircraft mishaps are attributable to spatial disorientation (SD), costing lives and millions of dollars. One potential solution is to provide supplementary sensory cues to help improve pilots' situation awareness (SA). Given existing demands on the pilot's visual system, audition and touch present the greatest potential for success. However, accurate 3D audio perception may be problematic in noisy operational environments. To determine the effects, participants performed an azimuth cue localization task while listening to 90 dB helicopter noise. Cue modalities conditions included 3D audio, vibrotactile, and audiotactile. Accuracy was better and response times were significantly faster for tactile and audiotactile cues than for 3D audio cues alone. The results illustrate the deleterious effects of loud ambient noise on 3D audio localization and suggest audiotactile cues may offer a viable alternative non-visual display for counteracting SD.

REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPING THE MODEL OF SPATIAL ORIENTATION INTO AN APPLIED COCKPIT WARNING SYSTEM

Refinements have been made to a model of spatial disorientation (SD) to improve simulation of acc... more Refinements have been made to a model of spatial disorientation (SD) to improve simulation of acceleration stimuli and visual-vestibular interactions. The improved model has been applied to aviation mishaps. The model is considered a technological countermeasure for SD because it is implemented as prototype software to aid the identification of mishap contributors in a way that should benefit didactic training. There is a more direct way this countermeasure can prevent SD, which is by adapting it for use as part of a cockpit warning system. The idea is to expand the model from one which explains mishaps post-hoc into one that warns pilots proactively whenever they are most likely to experience SD. This report introduces the general requirements that must be met to successfully expand the model for use as a proactive cockpit warning system, as well as the key criteria for determining whether it is effective.

TACTILE CUEING STRATEGIES TO CONVEY AIRCRAFT MOTION OR WARN OF COLLISION

This report highlights five current vibrotactile display technologies for conveying aircraft moti... more This report highlights five current vibrotactile display technologies for conveying aircraft motion or approach to obstacles or waypoints, including: 1) a simple on/off vibration cue that activates when a designated position is reached; 2) vibrations whose on-off pulse rate increases as the vehicle moves faster; 3) vibrations whose fundamental frequency rises to cue the approach of an object; 4) vibrations whose body site of spatial cueing signals self-motion in a manner analogous to tactile cues during sliding along the ground; 5) vibrations whose body site of cueing expands in a manner analogous to visual looming cues. The advantages and limitations of these current approaches are discussed, a new display strategy is introduced, and recommendations are made concerning future tactile display development and research needed to provide tactile displays. During flight, orientation and vehicle motion cues are often inadequate (e.g., due to loss of terrain visibility) or misleading (e.g., due to vestibular illusions). This report provides a brief overview of some of the currently-feasible tactile cueing strategies for restoring accurate perception of aircraft motion or the approach of obstacles or waypoints during flight. Tactile stick/rudder/collective tactile (" shaker ") cues have long been used to prevent stalling or inappropriate power settings in flight. More sophisticated and informative tactile spatial orientation/motion technologies have been developed and tested which convey aircraft position and/or motion. These strategies include the following: Strategy 1: an applied vibration cue that simply turns on when one's aircraft reaches a designated waypoint; Strategy 2: an applied vibration display whose number of on-off pulses per second becomes greater as one moves faster away from a desired helicopter hover position 2 ; Strategy 3: a laboratory tactile analogue of auditory perception whose vibration frequency rises to cue approach of/to a significant object (looming) 2 ; Strategy 4: a laboratory tactile analogue of natural touch, whose site of spatial cueing on the body changes in a linear/laminar manner consistent with the perception of self-motion during sliding across the ground; Strategy 5: a laboratory analogue of vision, whose site of cueing expands radially to convey looming in a manner akin to the perception of visual flow. These currently-feasible cueing strategies are described briefly below, along with a new display strategy that builds upon Strategies 4 and 5 and which has been prototyped but not yet tested.

Motion sickness scaling

Motion Sickness Symptomatology and Origins